football pics?

I have been trying to get some good pics of my nephew playing ball. I am not getting the shots I want. I assume with it being night, the field lights aren't putting out enough to get a crisp shot. I am using a nikon d80, quantaray 55-200mm lens(not trying to be a pro). I can't really afford to spend a thousand dollars on a better lens that would gather more light, so do yall have any tips on the setting I could use. Or do you know of a lens I could thats affordable.

I will give you the best advise I can for your equipment. Keep in mind that sports is one of the most demanding forms of photography on both the photographer and the gear.

Your quantaray 55-200mm is an f4.5-5.6 maximum aperture lens. By nighttime sports standards it is very slow. To get around the slow speed of the lens you are going to have to compensate somewhere else. You can't afford to compensate in shutter speed or you get motion blur. So the only place you can compensate is in your ISO. Set your ISO to 1600 and try to keep your shutter speed above 1/250th of a second. 1/320 to 1/500th is preferred, however with your lens, that is probably not be possible.

Shoot wide open at f 4.5-5.6 depending on the amount of zoom you select. Have you focus mode set to full time focus tracking and use the center focus point. Follow the action constantly with the camera and be prepared to capture the action. You have to anticipate and be ready.

If you can afford it look for a used 70-200 f2.8 or 80-200 f2.8 Nikon lens. My main photographic interest is shooting sports. f2.8 is the slowest glass I own because of my interest in sports. Good luck.

The older Nikon push-pull 80-200 f/2.8 lenses can be had in good condition for about $650.

You will want to look for the push-pull 80-200 f/2.8D version made from 1993 to 1997, not the f/2.8 ED AF version made from 1988-1992. For more information on those lenses, and the current 2-ring f/2.8D (about $800 used): http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/80-200mm-history.htm